For the band, see Halford (band).
Rob Halford

Rob Halford in 1984
Background information
Birth name Robert John Arthur Halford
Born (1951-08-25) 25 August 1951 (age 60)
Walsall, England
Genres Heavy metal, hard rock
Occupations Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments Vocals, harmonica
Years active 1969–present
Associated acts Judas Priest, Fight, 2wo, Halford, Bullring Brummies, Black Sabbath, Hear 'n Aid
Website Official website

Robert John Arthur "Rob" Halford (born 25 August 1951) is an English singer-songwriter, who is best known as the lead vocalist for the Grammy Award-winning heavy metal band Judas Priest. He is considered one of the most consistently powerful singers in rock,[1] possessing a wide vocal range, and is particularly known for his high-pitched, operatic, soaring screams. His vocal range spans nearly four octaves from C2 (which can be heard in "The Mower") to A5 (which can be heard in the title track to the Ram it Down album). In addition to his work with Judas Priest, he has been involved with several side projects, including Fight, 2wo and Halford. He is credited as the first openly gay heavy metal star, having come out in 1998.

Contents

Career [link]

Early years [link]

Halford was born in Sutton Coldfield, but raised in Walsall, which was then a part of Staffordshire [2] a town to the northwest of Birmingham, in England's modern day West Midlands. He sang for numerous bands including Athens Wood, Lord Lucifer, Abraxas, Thark and Hiroshima.

Judas Priest [link]

Main article: Judas Priest

Halford was introduced to co-founding Judas Priest member Ian Hill by his sister who was dating Hill at the time.[3] Halford, a former cinema manager, joined the band as singer, bringing with him drummer John Hinch from his previous band, Hiroshima. In August 1974, the band debuted with the single "Rocka Rolla", before releasing an album of the same name a month later. The next albums were Sad Wings of Destiny (1976), which included a variety of old material; 1977's Sin After Sin; and 1978's Stained Class and Killing Machine (released in America as Hell Bent for Leather), and 1979's live Unleashed in the East.

Rob Halford performing with Judas Priest in 2005

In 1980, the band released British Steel. The songs were shorter and more concisely structured, but retained the heavy metal feel. They released Point of Entry in 1981, featuring the song "Heading Out to the Highway". The 1982 album Screaming for Vengeance had a song, "You've Got Another Thing Comin'", which garnered strong US radio airplay, and the popular follow-up Defenders of the Faith was released in 1984. Turbo was released in April 1986, during the glam metal era. In May 1988, Ram It Down (which was supposed the 2nd half of "Turbo") was released, with songs that were also recorded during the "Turbo" sessions.

In September 1990, the Painkiller album dropped the 1980s-style synthesizers for almost all of the songs. Along with a change in musical style, the band's look changed as well. Halford emerged with all-new tattoos, including a bent Judas Priest cross on his right arm and ring around his other, as well as a few on his shoulders. He also began shaving his head for the first time, claiming that his receding hairline was getting annoying to keep up with.

Rob Halford during the World Wide Blitz Tour in 1981.

During the tour for Painkiller in August 1991 at a show in Toronto, Halford rode onstage on a large Harley-Davidson motorcycle, dressed in motorcycle leathers, as part of the show. He collided with a half-raised drum riser and fell off the motorcycle, breaking his nose.[4] After regaining consciousness, Halford returned and performed the whole concert. In the band's Behind the Music episode, Halford named the accident as one of the events that caused the rift between him and the rest of the band that would eventually force them apart. However, during an interview with Bernard Perusse of Montreal's The Gazette (1 August 2007), he is quoted as saying "And it absolutely did not [lead me to leaving the band]. It was just an accident."

After spending nearly 20 years with Judas Priest, Halford announced to the band on 4 July 1991 that he was leaving, and he also sued their label, Sony, for restrictive practices. Halford would leave the band in May 1992. During this period, Halford had recorded twelve studio and two concert albums with Judas Priest.

Fight, 2wo and Halford [link]

He first formed the band Fight with Judas Priest drummer Scott Travis, bassist Jack "Jay Jay" Brown and guitarists Brian Tilse and Russ Parrish, recording two albums between 1993 and 1995: War of Words (1993) and, after Parish's departure and his replacement by Mark Chausee, A Small Deadly Space (1995). While the first one was a straightforward tough and solid metal record, the second record had a grungier sound, making it less appealing to fans who had developed a taste for his debut album.

In between both albums, Fight released an EP, Mutations, featuring War of Words studio versions, live cuts and alternate mixes. Immediately before this, Halford had recorded a track called "Light Comes Out of Black" for the 1992 movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The song featured music provided by Pantera, although their contribution is uncredited.

After Fight, he collaborated with guitarist John Lowery in an industrial-influenced project called 2wo which was executively produced by Trent Reznor and released on his Nothing Records label.

Halford returned to his metal roots in 2000 with his band Halford and the widely acclaimed album Resurrection (2000), produced by Roy Z. A live album in 2001 was followed up by 2002's Crucible.

Reunion with Judas Priest [link]

Rob Halford often rides a motorcycle onstage

Halford's reunion with Judas Priest had been speculated about when he was no longer in the line-up, at least since the release of the Resurrection album, which some critics[who?] claimed sounded more like Judas Priest than the band's previous album Jugulator (1997). Halford himself had never ruled it out, claiming in 2002 that "Gut instinct tells me that at some point it will happen".[5]

In July 2003, Halford returned to his former band, and they released Angel of Retribution in 2005. The world tour that accompanied the release marked the band's 30th anniversary.

In 2008, Halford recorded Nostradamus with Judas Priest, and appeared with the band on the Metal Masters Tour. Long in the works, Nostradamus fuses heavy metal and operatic elements while relating events in the life of the 16th century French prophet of the same name.

In 2011, Judas Priest embarked upon what was billed as their final tour as a group, titled the "Epitaph" tour.[6] Subsequent to the tour's announcement, Halford stated that he will continue to move forward with his solo band.[7]

Other activities [link]

Halford has performed as the vocalist for Black Sabbath at three shows. He replaced Ronnie James Dio for two nights in November 1992, when Dio elected not to open a show for Ozzy Osbourne. Halford also replaced Osbourne in Black Sabbath on 25 August 2004 (Halford's 53rd birthday) at an Ozzfest show in Camden, New Jersey, since Osbourne could not perform due to bronchitis.

In early 2008, Halford expressed a desire in making a black metal album, citing encouragement from former Emperor frontman Ihsahn.[8] He said he'd "love to but it's all about finding the time".

Rob Halford performing at Sauna Open Air in 2011 during Judas Priest's Epitaph World Tour.

He provides his voice to the video game Brütal Legend, released in October 2009, where he voices General Lionwhyte, as well as the leader of the Fire Barons, he also heavily influenced the appearance of the latter.[9]

In 2002, Halford had a small role in the film Spun in which he played a sex store clerk.

Halford developed the clothing line Metal God Apparel with plans to develop retail sales through 2010.[10]

Halford had a brief cameo in a recent commercial for Virgin Mobile, appearing as a priest. His line in the commercial is "Let us pray". Judas Priest's 1977 album, "Sin After Sin" contained a song titled "Let Us Prey/Call for the Priest".[11][12]

Personal life [link]

In 1998, Halford came out as gay publicly on an interview with MTV News.

"I think that most people know that I've been a gay man all of my life, and it's only been in recent times it's an issue that I feel comfortable to address ... something that I feel has a moment, and this is the moment to discuss it."
—Rob Halford[13]

It is revealed in Behind the Music that hiding his sexuality during Priest's career caused him a lot of depression and isolation which led to his alcohol and drug abuse.

This event was the subject of the song "Hats Off to Halford" by Atom and His Package (released on Making Love, No Idea Records, 1999).

In addition to the sound, Judas Priest are also known for being revolutionaries in heavy metal fashion. Halford thus began incorporating a macho image of what today is known as hardcore metal/biker/S&M style into his look as early as 1978. Halford claimed on Behind the Music was his attempt at finding an outlet for his angst of his hidden sexuality and shopped around gay S&M shops

He currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona, US,[14] though he also maintains residences in San Diego, California, US and Amsterdam, Netherlands, as well as a home in his native Walsall, United Kingdom.

Although he is able to play several instruments (including guitar, bass, harmonica and drums), he does not consider himself enough of an accomplished instrumentalist to play while performing on stage.[citation needed]

In an interview with Motor Trend, he revealed that he has owned a variety of classic cars, including a 1970's Aston Martin DBS, a Chevrolet Corvette and a Mercury Cougar, although interestingly, he didn't pass his driving test until he was 38 years old;[15] his current daily driver is a 2006 Cadillac DTS.[16]

He has been clean and sober since going to rehab in 1986, stating that, before that point, he heavily abused drugs and alcohol.[17] He was born and raised in a Christian home, and states the following about his upbringing: "On a religious, more spiritual foundation, that really, for me, has become more important since I became clean and sober on Jan. 6, 1986. That was 25 years ago and I think that’s probably more important to me now, on a daily basis."[17]

Singing style [link]

Halford possesses a powerful voice with a large vocal range which was trademarked by his high screams and strong vibrato. In his prime his range has been claimed to be near 6 octaves (including his Head voice) but in recent years, his range has lowered with age but is still close to 4 octaves and can still reach many high notes. However, his lower range has nurtured and become more powerful. Along with Ronnie James Dio and Bruce Dickinson, Halford is one of the pioneers of the operatic vocal style later to be adopted by power metal vocalists and regularly appears near the top in lists of the greatest rock vocalists/front-men of all time.[18][19][20][21] Halford says that his style was influenced primarily by Arthur Brown, Janis Joplin, Lemmy, Robert Plant, David Bowie, Roger Daltrey (The Who), Freddie Mercury, Peter Hammill (Van der Graaf Generator), Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) and Ian Gillan (Deep Purple).[22]

Discography [link]

Judas Priest [link]

Fight [link]

2wo [link]

Halford [link]

Guest appearances [link]

  • Krokus – Headhunter – vocals on "Ready to Burn" (1983).
  • Surgical Steel – Surgical Steel (demo)- vocals on "Smooth And Fast" (1984).
  • Hear 'n Aid (1986).
  • With Stryper on the Against the Law tour in Toronto, Canada, performing "Breaking The Law" (1990).
  • Ugly Kid Joe – America's Least Wanted – backing vocals on "Goddamn Devil" (1992).
  • Skid Row – B-Side Ourselves – vocals on "Delivering the Goods" in a live version (1992).
    • the same outfit also performed for a live-in-studio session on the MTV show Headbanger's Ball (1992).
  • Black Sabbath – on 14 and 15 November 1992 Halford took over vocals for Sabbath, who played a double performance at the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, Los Angeles, California, USA (1992). This was part of Ozzy Osbourne's "final" solo tour, prompting former Sabbath vocalist Ronnie James Dio to refuse to play and subsequently leave the band for a second time.
  • Background vocals on the song "Hex 'n' Sex" for the album with the same title by the German band Brings (1993).
  • Bullring Brummies, a studio session line-up that came together to contribute to the Nativity in Black tribute compilation album of Black Sabbath cover songs (1994).
  • Recorded the song "Light comes out of Black" with Pantera for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer soundtrack (1992).
  • While playing their concert in Miami, FL, Metallica asked Halford on stage to perform a version of "Rapid Fire", originally recorded by Judas Priest. on British Steel in 1980 (1994).
  • Queens of the Stone Age – Rated R – vocals on "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" (2000).
  • Performing a live medley with Sum 41 and Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe, MTV's 20th Anniversary (2001).
  • Furious IV – Is That You? (2002).
  • Spun motion picture (2002) – "Pornclerk" character.
  • Brütal Legend – Voicing the main villain Lord Doviculus' minion General Lionwhyte, who is strongly based on the culture of glam metal. Also voiced the leader of the Fire Barons, who was directly modeled after his younger appearance.
  • Black Sabbath – Halford filled in for an ill Ozzy Osbourne during the Ozzfest stop in Camden, New Jersey, USA on 26 August 2004.[23]

References [link]

  1. ^ "Slash: Elements of a Great Rock Riff" | Show Clip | VH1.com. Vh1classic.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-21.
  2. ^ Bernard Perusse. Q&A with Rob Halford. Montreal Gazette. 1 August 2007
  3. ^ Read more about Judas Priest
  4. ^ Ling, Dave (25 December 2003), Judas Priest: The Making of Painkiller, https://www.daveling.co.uk/docpriest.htm, retrieved 2007-07-20 
  5. ^ Hoaksey, Mark: "Interview with Rob Halford," Power Play Issue 35, July 2002
  6. ^ "Judas Priest announce farewell EPITAPH World Tour!!"
  7. ^ "Rob Halford on Judas Priest's Final Tour". Blabbermouth. 2010-12-08. https://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=150583. Retrieved 2010-12-08. 
  8. ^ Exclusive: Rob Halford's Black Metal album
  9. ^ Decibel Magazine 2009-04-19
  10. ^ Campagna, Cathy A. (30 November 2009). "Interview with Rob Halford: A Metal God Christmas". The Aquarian Weekly. https://www.theaquarian.com/2009/11/30/interview-rob-halford-metal-god-christmas/3/. Retrieved 3 June 2010. 
  11. ^ Rob Halford Official Web Site – Rob Halford in Virgin Mobile Commercial. Robhalford.com (2010-07-20). Retrieved on 2011-05-21.
  12. ^ Rob Halford Launches Own Clothing Line, https://www.smnnews.com/2009/04/27/rob-halford-launches-own-clothing-line/, retrieved 2010-04-27 
  13. ^ "Rob Halford Discusses Sexuality Publicly For The First Time". MTV News. 5 February 1998. https://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1429870/19980205/halford_rob.jhtml. Retrieved 24 May 2010. 
  14. ^ Halford MySpace website
  15. ^ Rob Halford, Judas Priest Lead Singer First Car. Motor Trend. Retrieved on 2011-05-21.
  16. ^ Rob Halford, Judas Priest Lead Singer Celebrity Drive. Motor Trend. Retrieved on 2011-05-21.
  17. ^ a b Gazette, The. (2007-08-01) Q&A with Rob Halford. Canada.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-21.
  18. ^ "The 50 Greatest Metal Front-men Of All Time!". https://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/news/the-50-greatest-metal-front-men-of-all-time. Retrieved 1 August 2010. 
  19. ^ "Hit Parader’s Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time". https://www.hearya.com/2006/12/04/hit-paraders-top-100-metal-vocalists-of-all-time/. Retrieved 1 August 2010. 
  20. ^ "Bruce Dickinson And Ronnie James Dio Are Heavy Metal's Top Singers". https://legacy.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=121152. Retrieved 1 August 2010. 
  21. ^ "Robert Plant, Freddie Mercury, Axl Rose, Ian Gillan Among 'Greatest Voices in Rock'". https://legacy.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=111758. Retrieved 1 August 2010. 
  22. ^ "Interview with Rob Halford October 2001". https://dmme.net/interviews/dickinson.html. Retrieved 2011-08-15. 
  23. ^ Rob Halford Singing With Black Sabbath At Ozzfest: Audio Available

External links [link]

Judas Priest
Studio albums
Live albums
Extended plays
  • SCOOP 33
  • Delivering the Goods
  • Priest... Live Promo
  • Night Crawler
  • Live Meltdown Promo
  • Nostradamus EP
Compilations
Videos
Singles
Tours and concerts
Related articles
Fight
Studio albums
Halford
  • Patrick Lachman
  • Ray Riendeau
Studio albums


https://wn.com/Rob_Halford

Halford (band)

Halford is a heavy metal band formed in 1999 by Rob Halford, the lead vocalist for Judas Priest. Halford formed the band to return to his heavy metal roots. His two previous projects were a "street metal"-style band called Fight and the industrial metal band 2wo.

Recordings

Halford's first album Resurrection was included in Martin Popoff's The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time. In addition, the songs "Silent Screams" and the title-track "Resurrection" were included in Popoff's list. The track "The One You Love to Hate" featured vocalist Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden.

In 2002 Halford, released its second studio album Crucible, although no live recordings have been officially released to promote this album. A high-quality soundboard bootleg titled, Live - From the Disney House of Blues, was made available for download at RobHalford.com in 2004, along with a special DEP (Digital Entertainment Package) created by Attila Juhasz. Halford released bonus tracks in Japan, such as "She", "Fugitive", "Rock the World Forever" and "In the Morning". There is a video for the track "In the Morning" available on Halford's website.

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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Halford_(band)

Holy Diver (video game)

Holy Diver (ホーリーダイヴァー or ホーリーダイバー Hōrīdaivā) is a platforming video game software developed and published by Irem on April 28, 1989 for the Famicom (Japanese version of the Nintendo Entertainment System). The game was scheduled for a North American release in the same year, and even received a brief write-up in Electronic Gaming Monthly. However, for unknown reasons, the game was never released outside Japan.

Similarities to other games

Although Irem designed the game, its plot and setting is designed in the same vein as Konami's Castlevania and Getsu Fūma Den. In fact, one of stages has sprites and graphics similar to those found in Konami's other game, Contra (the final boss is also very similar to Contra's). The HUD is like the one used in Nintendo's Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.

External links


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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Holy_Diver_(video_game)

Holy Diver

Holy Diver is the debut album by American heavy metal band Dio, released in 1983. Vocalist Ronnie James Dio had just finished his first tenure in Black Sabbath, whose drummer Vinny Appice he took with him to put together his own band. The roster was completed by his former band mate in Rainbow Jimmy Bain on bass and by the young guitarist Vivian Campbell, coming from the NWOBHM band Sweet Savage. The album was acclaimed by the music press and is the most successful of the band.

History

Released on May 25, 1983, the album has been hailed by critics as Dio's best work and a classic staple in the heavy metal genre. The album was certified Gold in the US on September 12, 1984, and Platinum on March 21, 1989. In the UK it attained Silver certification (60,000 units sold) by the British Phonographic Industry, achieving this in January 1986, at the same time as The Last in Line.

The original vinyl release had a photo-montage LP-liner, with images from both Rainbow and Black Sabbath days.

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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Holy_Diver

Holy Diver (disambiguation)

Holy Diver may refer to:

  • Holy Diver, the debut album of heavy metal band Dio, released in 1983
  • Holy Diver (song), the first single off the album
  • Holy Diver (video game), a video game released in Japan in 1989
    • Read more
    This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Holy_Diver_(disambiguation)

    Podcasts:

    Halford

    ALBUMS

    Live at Saitama Super Arena

    Released 2011

    Live in Anaheim

    Released 2010

    Made of Metal

    Released 2010

    Winter Songs

    Released 2009

    Live Insurrection

    Released 2009

    Resurrection

    Released 2009

    Rock in Rio III

    Released 2008

    Metal God Essentials, Volume 1

    Released 2007

    Disney House of Blues Concert

    Released 2004

    Crucible

    Released 2002

    Made in Hell

    2000-11-09: Kulturbolaget, Malmö, Sweden

    2001-01-15: Santiago Pista Atletica, Santiago, Chile

    Rob Halford

    ALBUMS

    Ronnie James Dio: This Is Your Life

    Released 2014

    Lift Me Up

    Released 2013

    The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1

    Released 2013

    2011-12-09: The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Released 2011

    Rock Sound: Music With Attitude, Volume 16

    Released 2000

    B-Side Ourselves

    Released 1992

    Buffy the Vampire Slayer

    Released 1992

    Youth Gone Wild

    Released 1989

    1985-07-13: Live Aid: The Global Jukebox: [various locations]

    Spun

    Email this Page Play all in Full Screen Show More Related Videos
    PLAYLIST TIME:

    Night Fall

    by: Rob Halford

    Nightfall
    Halford
    Composição: Mike Chlasciak; Patrick Lachman; Rob Halford
    You love is killing me,
    It draws me to the dark
    Your veil of ecstasy,
    That leaves the telling mark
    The spell you cast inside,
    Is stabbing through my heart
    It reaches deep within,
    It´s pulling me apart
    Night Fall, you take my soul
    Night Fall, you´re in control
    Your love´s still haunting me,
    It draws me into black
    Your veil of fantasy,
    Won´t let my soul come back
    The spell has taken all,
    I can´t release my mind
    I´ve lost my heart to you,
    You´re too cruel to be kind
    Night Fall, you take my soul
    Night Fall, you´re in control
    Night Fall, I called and you came




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